Boiler-furnace.



PATENTED MAR. 6, 1906.`

J. ooms. BOILBR FURNACE. APPLICATION FILED MAB..2, 1905.

2 SHEETS-SHEET z.

frwendg wrzesses d6.

UNITED sTA-Tns PATENT onirica. JOHN ooLLis, or Das Moiihtsiowii, AssieNoR To w. r. ooLLis,V

-. OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

gdiLsR-FURNAGE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

To all whom. it may concern.:

Beit known that I," JOHN CoLLIs, a citizen ofthe United States, residing at Des Moines,

in the county of Polk and State of Iowa, have invented a certain new and useful Boiler-Furnace, of which the following is a specification.

My obj ect is to rovide a boiler-furnace with a bridge-wall ocated beneath the furnace-body. and midway between the ends of atraveling grate moving with the burning,

Y coals from front to rear beneath the said ybridgefwall, so that the smoke, gases, and

other volatile products of combustion arising yfrom the fire on the grate in front of the 1 bridge-wall are effective in heating the boiler .tothe same extent as in the ordinary fire-box of a boiler-furnace and after said roducts of combustion have passed over the ridge-wall the will be forced downwardly by. a brick arc into contact with glowing coals upon the traveling grate in the rear of thebridge-wall,

where the smokeand gases will be consumed, thereby tending to keep alive saidglowing coals'and to give offheat to the rear portion of the boiler, thus obtainin the effect .as regards smoke consumption o two independent res,.without the necessity of separately feeding and maintaining said fires. A further object is to'provide a rotatable bridge-wall and a boiler-furnace having a traveling grate, said bridge-wall capable yof slight vertical movement to accommodate itself `to the thickness vof the layer of fuel on the. grate, sothat the said brii'lgeewall will lpresent new surfaces to the action of the fire,

and thus avoid being burned out at the hottest points and also to provide for cutting draft under the bridge-wall relative to the amount of fuel on the grate. 1 A further object is to )rovide improved meanssfor feeding fue] to the traveling grate.

Referring to the accom )anying drawings, Figure lshowsa vertical central sectional view of a complete lniiler-furnace en'ibodying my invention. Fig; 2 shows a vertical transverse sectional view on the indicated line 2 2 of Fig. 1 with the partition-wall below the grate omitted. Fig. '.3 shows a side elevation of part of one of the sprocket-wlieels 'or sup?.` porting the traveling grat-c. Fig. 4 shows' a detail plan view of a n umher of the travelinggrate links. Fig. 5 shows a transverse sectional view on the line 55 of Fig. 6, showing a modified forni of bridge-wall and means for rotating saine, with the grate-supporting sprockets omitted. Fig. 6 shows a verticai central longitudinal sectional view of same.

Fig. 7 shows a transverse section of the rotary bridge-wall. Fig. 8 shows a side elevation, partly in section, of same; and Fig. 9 shows an end elevation of the rotary bridgewall and the slotted bracket for supporting its end.

In the accompanying drawings, the'reference-numeral 10 is used to indicate the boiler of the class known as the return-flue type. This boiler is supported in the furnace-walls 1 1 in the ordinary way, and at itsfront is the smoke-stack 12,'` communicating with the return-fines. Beneath the rear end portion of the boiler is the brick arch 13 to deflect products of combustion downwardly, for purposes hereinafter made clear. Beneath; the oiler is a traveling grate supported by shafts 14 and 15, on which are mounted sprocketwheels 16, each sprocket-wheel having its teeth divided into a number of projections 17. The traveling grate is composed o f a number of links which may be cast and each of which com rises a body portion 18, formed with longituc inal slots 19, each of which is of a size to receive the projections 17 of the teeth of the sprocket-wheels. On each end Y of each link are the. lugs 20, and two adjacent end-to-end links are connected by a bolt 21, passing through said lugs. At each side of each link are the later ily-projecting lugs 22 to hold. the side-by-sidhe links spaced apart. Throughout the length of the upper portion of the traveling grate I have provided for supporting it by means of the shafts 23, carrying the sprocket-wheels 24, constructed similar to the sprocket-wheels 16. The for- Patented March 6*, 1906.

ward end of the traveling grate projects inv front of the boiler, so that, if desired, fuel may be fed to it by hand.

I have provided for supplying the traveling grate with fuel as follows: The numeral 25 indicates a hopper hinged at its upper forward corner to swing forwardly and upwardly, so that access may be had to the door 26 of the flue 12 by swinging said hopper'f'orwardly and upwardly. The lower end of the hopper dischargesl upon a furnace-door 27, which door is pivoted at V28. Below said pivotal point it is provided with perforations 29, and above the pivotal point it is solid. Fixed to the upper end of said door is a weighted arm 30, so arranged that it may be conveniently grasped by the operator and'pulled IOO downwardly. to place the door 27 in a substantially horizontal position, thus opening saidbrid e-wall. I

.the door` and permitting the traveling grate Ii of said wall.

The

bridge-wall 31, extending from one side of the furnace to the other with its lower sur-- face at such an elevation from thev top of the traveling grate as to permit the bed of coals on the traveling grate to pass under it and yet prevent the passage under it of an considerable quantity of the products o combustion arising from the grate. This bridgewalllimits the dimension of the fire-box of the furnace, and at such speed that the .fuel will be substantially consumed before it passes under the have provided for utilizing the ridge-wall'to assist in heating the water in the boiler as follows: One end of the bridge-wall 31 is provided with a pipe 32, communicating between the upper portion of the bridge-wall and the upperA ortion of the boiler, and at the other end of t e bridge-wall is a pip'e 33, communicating between the lower portion of the bridgevall and the lower rear end of the boiler.. In this way a circulation of water within the bridge-wall is provided for when a Ilireis burning.,r on the grate, and the heated water is discharged into the boiler. This prevents the bridge-wall from' burning out and materially assists the boiler in heating'water. After the products of combustion arising from the grate in front of the bridge-wall have passed over the bridge-wall they will ass under the boiler and will give off their ieat in the ordinaryT way. When the currents in which these roducts of combustion are carried strike t earch 13, they will be deflected downwardly to the Glowing 'coals upon that portion of the grate that has traveled under the bridge-wall, and some of this currenta will pass downwardly through the grate and some along the top of the grate under the arch. It is well known that by bringing a current of air and smoke and volatile 'gas close to or through glowing coals these products will be ignited and the gases will ,give off their heat and the smoke be Wholly consumed. Hence in practice the furnace will consume the smoke and allvolatile products of combustion, and these willbe utilized in maintaining the glowing coals in their heated condition,` thus supplying heat to the rear end/ tiongof the boiler. Beneath the bridge-Wawy; a solidwall 84, extending across the furnace and dividing the space between. the upper and lower portions of the traveling grate into front and rear compartments and preventing draft from passing upwardly through the grate in in use the grate is advanced it may pass It is intended that the draft passing through'the grat-e to produce conibustion shall pass through in front of said wall, so that the portion in front of thevwall constitutes the equivalent of the fire-box of the ordinary furnace, while that portion in the rear of the bridge-wall constitutes a second fire-box for the purpose of consuming the products of combustion arising from the fire 1n front of the bridge-wall.

In the modified form shown on Sheet 2 the.

shaft 15 is extended through the adjacent side wall of the furnace and provided with a pulley 35. The bridge-wall is of cylindrical form and is indicated by the numeral 36, and fixed to its ends are the open-ended hollow shafts 37 communicating with the interior of the 'bridge-wall adjacent side walls of the furnace. On the interior of the bridge-wall 36 near its end are the integral arms 38 to of the shafts 37, and the central portion of the bridge-wall is perforated at 39. Fixed to the outer surfaces of thefurnace-walls are the slotted brackets 40, through which the shafts 37 are passed and by which they are guided in their up-and-downl movements. On one of the shafts 37 is a pulley 41, connected by the cross-belt 42 with the pulley 35. vBy this arrangement the under surface of the cylindrical bridge-wall 86 is made to move in the direction of the travel of the fuel on the grate. Hence the said bridge-wall constantly presents new surfaces to the hottest portions of the fire to prevent it from becoming burned out, and the bridge-wall will ride upon the fuel on the grate and prevent the passage of draft under it, thus positively dividing the fire-box at the front from the one at the rear except that the' smoke and flames that passed over the bridge-wall may enter the fire-box at the rear of the bridge-wall and be brought into contact with the heated coals thereon. By providing the op'enended shafts 37, communicating with the outside atmosphere and with the interior of th'e cylindrical bridgewalls, it is obvious that air will be drawn into the bridge wall and heated and then discharged through the openings 39 of the bridge-wall and caused to commingle with the gases and smoke under the boiler, and

thus aid combustion.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure b Letters Patent of the United States there or, is-

1. In a furnace, the combination with a traveling grate, of a bridge-wall arranged above and between the ends of the fuel-supportin portion of the traveling grate, spaced apart om the 'top of the traveling grate to permit the fuel to pass under it, means for advancing the traveling grate so that fuel on under the bridge-wall and continue to burn in the compartment in the rear the rear 1 of the bridge-wall and means for directing and extended through ,the-

brace the inner endsl IOO IOS

IIS

ISO

the products of combustion arisiiw from the chamber in front of t-he bridge-Wall over the Y bridge-wall and over the portion of the grate i above the said partition,

in the rear of the bridge-Wall.

2. In a furnace, the combination with a traveling grate,v of a brid e-'Wall arranged above and between the en sof the fuel-supporting portion of the traveling grate and spaced apart from the top of the traveling grate to permit the fuel to pass under it, means for advancing the traveling grate so that fuel on it may pass under the bridge- Wall and continue to burn in the compartment in the rear of the bridge-Wall and means for directingthe products of combustion arising from the chamber in front of the bridge- Wall, over the bridge-Wall and then downwardly over the portion of the grate in the. rear of the bridge-Wall.

In a furnace the combination of a trav-- elmg grate, a partition below the central por-A tion of the traveling grate to direct. draft u Wardly through the portion of the grate m front of the partition, a bridge-Wall above the central portion of the traveling grate and said bridge-Wall spaced apart from the grate to permit fuel to passy under it and means for directing the products of combustion from one'side of the -eling grate, a partition below tion of the traveling grate to direct draft upgrate over the bridge-Wall and over the portion of the grate on the opposite side of the bridge-Wall.

4. In a furnace the combination of a travthe central por- Wardly 'through the portion of the grate in front of the partition, a bridge-Wall above above the said partition, said bridge-Wall spaced a art from the grate to permit fuel toA pass un er it, and means for directing the products of combustion -from one side of the grate over the bridge-wall and offer the portion 'of the grate on the opposite'A side of the bridge-Wall, and a defiecting-arcii ebove the rear portion of the grate to direct products of combustion passing over the bridge-wall,

the rear end of the boiler.

6. ln a furnace, the combination of a traveling grate, a rotatable bridge-wall above the grate and spaced apart from it to permit fuel to pass under the bridge-Wall, said bridgewall shaped to remain in contact with the fuel While its under surface is moving in the same direction as the fuel upon the grate.

47. The combination Witha furnace, of a rotatable bridge-Wall, said bridge-wall provided with discharge-openings and means for introducing air into the bridge-wall.

S. The combination with a furnace and a traveling grate, of a rotar;T bridge-Wall connecetd with the traveling grate to' be rotated thereby.

9. The combination with a furnace and a travelingvgrate, of a rotatable bridge-wall capable of limited up-and-down movement and normally resting on the fuel onftlie grate.

10. In a furnace, the combination of a trav-' eling grate a bridge-Wall normally resting upon the fuel on the grate and capable of being moved up and-down by the variations in the thickness of the layer of fuel on the traveling grate passing over the bridge-Wall.

11. The combination of a boiler-furnace and a traveling grate, of a cylindrical, perforated bridge-Wall open-ended shafts commu- 'the central portion of the traveling grate andI o f nicating with the interior 0f the bridge- Wall and rotatably and slidingly supported in the side Walls of the furnace' and means for connecting the bridge-Wall With the traveling grate so that its under surfacey is advanced 1n the saine direction as the grate JOHN COLLIS. iVitnesses JULIA B. SMUTNEY, SiDNEY F. CHRISTY, 

